Satiety

Satiety is a team effort between your stomach, gut, hormones and brain – and you can make it work for you. When the stomach stretches, stretch receptors report “full”. In the gut, nutrients release hormones such as GLP-1, PYY and CCK, which signal “enough” to the brain. Fat tissue sends a long-term signal about the body's reserves via leptin, and the stomach turns down the hunger hormone ghrelin as soon as food arrives.

This system has a delay: it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the signals to arrive. If you eat very quickly, your plate is empty before your body has even had a chance to speak up. Eating slowly, chewing well, putting your cutlery down in between – it sounds trivial, but it's one of the most effective aids to losing weight there is.

Not every calorie is equally filling. Protein keeps you full the longest, followed by high-fibre carbohydrates; fat is only weakly filling per calorie but slows down stomach emptying. Water-rich foods such as vegetables, soups and fruit fill your stomach with little energy. Liquid calories from juice and fizzy drinks, on the other hand, barely fill you up – the body almost “overlooks” them.

A filling plate therefore looks like this: plenty of vegetables, a good portion of protein (quark, pulses, fish, eggs), wholegrains or potatoes, plus a little fat for flavour. Eating this way lets you take in fewer calories without being hungry – and that's the whole difference between a change in diet you can stick to and one you give up on.

Lack of sleep, stress and distractions while eating (phone, TV) disrupt the satiety signals. Sitting down together at a family table without screens helps young and old alike to sense when they're full again.